Rielle Hunter, John Edwards Relationship Fizzling Leading Up To Trial Opening [PHOTOS]

Leading up to the long-awaited trial, the relationship between John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter is fizzling, a source said, despite reports the couple had plans to wed. Photo: REUTERS

Leading up to the long-awaited trial, the relationship between John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter is fizzling, a source said, despite reports the couple had plans to wed.

According to The New York Post, the romance between Edwards, 58, and his mistress has nearly halted to a stop, as the former politician stands trial for the misuse of $1 million in campaign funds allegedly used to cover up an affair he had with Hunter while running for President.

They didn't seem romantic, a server at a Charlotte restaurant told the Post of the former North Carolina senator and the mistress. They looked like a married couple. You would think that if you didn't know them. He sat across from her in the booth. According to the source, Edwards and Hunter often visited the restaurant with their four-year-old daughter Frances Quinn

Rosemarie Terenzio, a friend of and Hunter's publicist, said the couple still sees each other but has no plans to wed.

No, she wasn't ever engaged to him, Terenizo said. They see each other often. They raise [Francis Quinn] together. They do so extremely amicably.

News of the relationship between Edwards and Hunter, a former campaign videographer, comes the day the trial opens for the former politician, who allegedly used $1 million to cover up his affair with Hunter while his wife, Elizabeth, was suffering from cancer. According to the Post, Edwards' legal team will argue that the campaign money - amounting to $933,000 -- was used to fund the purchase of aide Andrew Young's home.

The trial will also bring the affair to light as Rielle Hunter will testify in addition to Young, who once falsely admitted that he was the father of Hunter's baby to protect Edwards.

John Edwards pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts regarding the campaign money from two doners, one from a 101-year-old heiress named Rachel Bunny Mellon, filed last year by the U.S. Justice Department.

I did not break the law and I never ever thought that I was breaking the law, Edwards said.

However, Young's 2010 tell-all book The Politician details the scandal of how Edwards, having learned of Rielle Hunter's pregnancy, could not use his own money to support Hunter without his wife knowing, therefore plotting the scheme with Mellon.

Edwards called her, and the 'Bunny money' began to flow, Young wrote.

The trial, which will have evidence including Young's voicemails from Edwards, opens Monday and is set to last for at least six weeks.